Sunday, October 3, 2010

St. Louis Media Fail: Still No Comments From O'Keefe's St. Louis Accomplice

Mediaite has posted some new details from James O'Keefe's plot to sexually humiliate a CNN reporter, including a video clip from CNN's Right on the Edge special (which, ironically, would have ended up being a complete puff piece were it not for O'Keefe's disgraceful plot). Emails forwarded to CNN show fairly conclusively that O'Keefe's claim that he wasn't aware of the plan was false.

Given that this is a story with national significance, it's amazing to me that the local St. Louis media, with the exception of Chad Garrison, has failed to report on the local connection or get a quote from O'Keefe's St. Louis tea party collaborator John Burns. The original CNN report indicated that John Burns was in on the planning emails, and was asked for advice about the plan by O'Keefe:

CNN was forwarded an e-mail, sent from O'Keefe's e-mail address, to the executive director of Project Veritas, Izzy Santa; and two conservative activists, Ben Wetmore of New Orleans and Jonathon Burns of St. Louis, Missouri, dated after the call with Boudreau.

"Getting Closer," the e-mail states. "Audio attached conversation with Abbie. What do you think of her reaction guys. She said she could do it Monday, Tuesday. Ben, you think I could get her on the boat?"

Burns and O'Keefe first collaborated in St. Louis by building a gulag on the Washington University campus and releasing highly edited video claiming that the Wash U administration was trying to shut them down because they were conservative. These claims were later proved false by a blog post from a student member of the Young Americans for Liberty. They later collaborated on an attempt to sabotage an LGBT rally, writing "Free Abortions" on signs according to several eyewitness reports and refusing to follow the instructions of the event organizers to comply with police requests.

I have a hard time understanding why local media would pass on the opportunity to contribute to a story of national significance. If they could get a quote from Burns about his role in the plot or about additional details, it would surely be picked up in future national reporting on this story. Furthermore, Burns is the St. Louis Field Representative for American Majority and was claimed to be the head of the St. Louis tea party's block captain program. St. Louis residents deserve to know what role, if any, John Burns played in this nefarious plot. And if those two appeals to the role of journalism in society aren't enough, this clearly is a juicy story, full of scandelous details. There really is no excuse for the local media to not be covering this.

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